Bag holder



Nov. 17, 1942. R. H. CARRIER BAG HOLDER Filed Jan. 29, 1942 Patented Nov. 17, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FE'EQE BAG HOLDER Robert H. Carrier, Bristol, Tenn.

Application January 29, 1942, Serial No. 428,777

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to bag holders and it is one object of the invention to provide a bag holder formed of a single strand of resilient wire so bent that it forms a body having lower arms for supporting a stack of bags and upper arms constituting clamps for gripping the stack of bags from opposite sides and detachably holding the bags in place against the holder.

Another object of the invention is to so form the holder that side bars thereof carrying the upper arms or clamps are yieldable transversely to accommodate themselves to the width of the stack of bags and urged toward each other for gripping engagement with the bags.

Another object of the invention is to form the holder so that the lower arms will engage under and support a stack of bags and carry a yoke for bracing the lower portion of the holder and engaging about the lower portion of the stack of bags.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder having hooks at its upper end for engaging through Openings in a supporting strip or sheet, the supporting sheet being formed with openings so arranged that a number of bag holders may be suspended one above another with each holder overlapping a holder beneath it.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag holder which is simple in construction, very efficient in operation, and not liable to be bent out of shape if carelessly handled.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a front elevation showing the bag holder suspended from a supporting plate.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the improved bag holder.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken Vertically through Fig. 1, on the line 33.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bag holder.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a number of bag holders suspended from a backing sheet or strip.

This improved bag holder is formed from a thick strand of resilient wire which is bent midway its length to form a lower yoke I having a rear cross bar 2 and side arms 3 which project forwardly from ends of the cross bar. At forward ends of the side arms '3, the strand is bent to form short horizontally extending bars 4 which connect the side arms with vertically extending fingers 5 at front ends of lower bars 6. The bars '6 extend horizontally below and in inwardly offset relation to the side arms 3 and, at rear ends of the bars 6, the strand of wire is bent upwardly to form vertically extending side bars 7 of the bag holder.

These side bars form the body por- 55 date.

bars l' have their upper portions folded back upon themselves to form shanks 8 of double thickness and upper ends of the shanks are rearwardly'and downwardly bent to form hooks 9 by means of which the holder is suspended from a a supporting plate or strip Ill.

The sheet or strip It] may be formed of wood, stiff paperboard, or metal, and is of greater width than the holder and of suitable length to carry the number of holders which it is to accommo- Sets of openings H are formed through the plate or sheet Ill and are of such dimensions that the hooks 9 may be very easily engaged through a selected set of openings and suspend the holder in front of the board or strip. It should also be noted that when more than one holder is carried by the mounting sheet or strip, each holder has its lower portion overlapping a holder beneath it and the holders will be disposed diagonally in such position and relation to each other that the lower end or bottom of a bag in any one of the holders may be grasped and the bag extracted from the holder without interference by other holders or bags carried thereby.

Lower end portions of the downwardly bent portions of the strand are bent outwardly, as shown at 12, and then forwardly, to form arms or hooks i3 having inwardly extending bills I l at their front ends for engaging across the front face of a stack of bags from opposite sides of the upper portion of the stack and holding the stack in upright position against the holder. A spring I5 extends between lower ends of the shanks 5 and has eyes or hooks [S at its ends engaged about the shanks. The spring is stretched when applied and contraction of the spring. applies pull upon the shanks to draw the hooks into close clamping engagement with opposite sides of the stack of bags. The eyes of the spring also serve to hold the outer strands of the shanks close against the main strands thereof and impart strength to the shanks. While a spring has been shown in use it will be understood that a rubber band or an equivalent elastic device may be substituted in lieu of the spring.

When this improved bag holder is in use, the back plate or sheet H] is suspended from a support by a hook I! screwed into the support and engaged through an opening l8 formed midway the width of the upper end of the sheet. The stack of bags B is applied to the holder with bottoms of the bags resting on the supporting bars 6 and the side arms 3 of the yoke I retain the bags in place upon the bars. After the stack of bags has been set in place on the supporting bars, upper portions of the bars I are shifted away from each other and the upper portion of the stack disposed between the hooks I3 and fiat against the shanks B. The bars I are then released and the spring l5 contracts and draws the hooks toward each other into gripping engagement with the stack of bags. The hooks 9 are then engaged through openings 1 I of the plate or back board and the holder will be suspended as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The folded bottoms of the bags are disposed outwardly and, when a bag is to be used, it is merely necessary to grasp the bottom of the outer or forward bag and exert pull thereon to draw it from the stack and out of engagement by the yoke l and the hooks [3. Since the holder is formed of resilient wire, its arms I may yield transversely to accommodate bags of different widths and, since the wire is thick, it will have sufficient stiffness to form strong hooks and a strong yoke and bag engaging arms.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a bag holder, bag supporting means and resilient bars extending upwardly therefrom and formed with suspension hooks for suspending the holder from a support, hooks carried by the bars for engaging about the upper portion of a stack of bags resting on the supporting means and holding the stack upright, and means for urging said bars toward each other and holding the last mentioned hooks thereof in gripping engagement with opposite sides of a stack of bags.

2. In a bag holder, bag supporting means and bars extending upwardly therefrom and formed with suspension hooks at their upper ends for engaging through openings in a support and suspending the holder on the support, the bars being shiftable toward and away from each other to accommodate the holder to the width of a stack of bags, and a spring mounted between the bars and adapted to urge the bars toward each other.

3. A bag holder comprising a body having vertically extending bars and bag-supporting arms projecting forwardly from the lower ends of the bars, a yoke having a cross bar extending transversely of the body across said bars and arms projecting forwardly and connected with front ends of the supporting arms, the connected portions of the arms forming members for overlapping lower corner portions of a stack of bags resting on the supporting arms, and means for suspending the holder from a support.

4. A bag holder comprising a body having vertically extending bars and bag-engaging arms projecting forwardly from the lower ends of the bars, a yoke having a cross bar extending transversely of the body back of said bars and arms projecting forwardly and connected with front ends of the supporting arms, the connected portions of the arms forming members for overlapping lower corner portions of a stack of bags resting on the supporting arms, hooks carried by the bars for suspending the holder from a support, and other hooks carried by the bars for engaging the upper portion of a stack of bags at opposite sides thereof and holding the stack in upright position against the holder.

5. A bag holder comprising a body having vertically extending bars and bag-supporting means extending forwardly from the lower ends of the bars, upper portions of the bars being folded downwardly to form shanks having companion side strands and then bent to form forwardly extending bag engaging members having portions for overlapping the upper portion of a stack of bags from opposite sides, and said shanks having their upper portions bent to form, suspending hooks for the holder.

6. A bag holder comprising a strand of resilient material bent to form vertically extending bars having forwardly extending bag-supporting arms and a yoke having a cross bar extending hori- Zontally back of the vertical bars and side arms projecting forwardly outwardly of the bars, the side arms having their forward portions extending inwardly and the supporting arms having,

their forward portions extending upwardly and integraiiy united with the inwardly extending portions of the side bars and together therewith forming members for overlapping lower corner portions of a stack of bags resting on the supporting arms, upper portions of the bars being bent downwardly to form shanks of double thickness and then outwardly and forwardly to form hooks for engaging the upper portion of a stack of bags from opposite sides, and the upper ends of the shanks being bent to form support engaging hooks for suspending the holder from a support.

'7. A bag holder comprising a body having vertically extending bars and bag-supporting means extending forwardly from the lower ends of the bars, upper portions of the bars being folded downwardly to form shanks having inner and outer side strands and then bent to form forwardly extending bag engaging hooks having inwardly extending bills for overlapping the upper portion of a stack of bags from opposite sides, the upper ends of the shanks being bent to form support engaging hooks, and a spring extending between the shanks and having its ends engaged with the shanks for exerting pull thereon and urging the shanks toward each other for holding the hooks in gripping engagement with opposite sides of the stack of bags.

ROBERT H. CARRIER. 

